Erotic Museum, The

The Erotic Museum, Hollywood, which opened in January of 2004,
announces closing of its doors May 7th, 2006, in part due to the
dwindling tourism.

After having restored the 1926 building housing the Museum to its
original beauty, the Museum’s team consistently assembled a dynamic
program of entertaining and educational exhibits such as A Century of
Sex, Sex Ed 102, The Hays Code, and many others in its more than two
years of operation. The Museum’s permanent collection includes Pablo
Picasso, photos of Marilyn Monroe,
contemporary artists, and many interactive exhibits.

Although the privately owned Museum had seen nearly twice the number of
visitors per year of comparably sized public museums in Los Angeles,
making ends meet was difficult without public money and with prejudices
about erotica and sexuality still at play even in one of the country's
most liberal locales.

“In our preliminary market research, we found many survey respondents
open to such a unique, intellectual and stimulating experience as the
Museum currently offers,” says museum’s CEO Boris Smorodinsky.
“However, given a real opportunity to explore their sexuality in an
open and educational forum, people tended to be much shyer than we
anticipated. Very often we saw couples linger at the door unsure if
they wanted to come in.”

The Erotic Museum’s goal was to make people think of erotica and
sexuality in a different way, to deal honestly and openly with
eroticism in hopes of realizing the positive potential of human
sexuality. During its two-year run, the Museum hosted major name
artists such as Andres Serrano Tom of Finland, Mel Roberts and others,
packed exhibition openings, and offered a number of special events.
Hugh Hefner was the first inductee to the Erotic Hall of Fame in a
ceremony emceed by Bill Maher at the museum. And while special events
often saw substantial crowds, daily attendance did not meet
expectations.

"Sex is everywhere these days, on the Internet, on TV, in the movies,"
comments Museum owner Mark Volper. “One thing we found in time, was
that there is a change in the way people are consuming sex as a product
these days. That combined with the recent natural disasters, the war, a
drop in tourism, it's been a tough time for a controversial
entertainment institution."

"It's a troubled time in LA County for the museum business in general."
noted curator Eric Singley. "With leadership questions at some of the
major museums in town and flagging attendance at nearly all museums,
we're all in a state of limbo. We understand the other museums
dedicated to sexuality in the United States have not been meeting their
expectations either."

Museum CEO Boris Smorodinsky comments, "The entire Boulevard is on the
upturn. There are developments all around the area. We still feel the
Museum is a golden opportunity for the right people to come in and make
a go of it."

The Museum is still courting potential new owners, mostly in the
erotica-related industry, from adult film producers and stars to
educational institutions such as the Kinsey Institute. "It's a unique
product." Volper explains. "We've done the hard work by building this
amazing facility. It just needs the right expertise to take it to the
last mile."

Boris Smorodinsky says, “We had hoped to educate, entertain, and
inspire. For two years, our venue was a vehicle for many progressive
artists to showcase their talent, and we regret that due to
circumstances beyond our control we have to close our doors. We also
would like to thank all Museum members, sponsors, the Human Body
Project participants and all other supporters from the bottom of our
hearts for their continued patronage and belief in our product.”

The Erotic Museum is offering its artwork and assets for sale. The
Museum’s on-line store will continue to offer Erotic products at its
web site www.theeroticmuseum.com.

6741 Hollywood Blvd.
Hollywood CA 90028
323 463 7684

TheEroticMuseum.com

Statement of Purpose

The mission of The Erotic Museum is
to educate the public about human sexuality with art and history
exhibitions regarding the broad range of mankind’s erotic endeavor
through the ages. The collection features contemporary art, vintage
erotica films, antique pleasure devices, historical artifacts and
interactive exhibits.

Highlights & Collections:

Evening at the Erotic – Friday, August 6th 9:00pm - Midnight
:15 Minutes of Andy Warhol
Screening of Warhol’s adult films with books, images and sounds of the
Factory in honor of his birthday. MAC-PRO Make-up artists, wigs
and Polaroid cameras on hand to help you create your own memento of the
evening. Music and other recordings from the A/V Department, cash
bar and more for regular musuem admission. Free for Members.

Evening at the Erotic – Sunday, August 8th. 6:00pm – 9:00pm
13 Inches of John Holmes
Wish a posthumous 60th birthday to John Holmes, the legendary adult
film star spun out of control. Recently remastered rare Holmes
films from the Museum’s collection will be featured in the Projection
Room with veteran rebel pornographer Bill Margold as the special guest
speaker. First 100 guests will receive a complimentary DVD of the
new documentary, “John Holmes: The Man, the Myth, the
Legend”. Admission is $12.95, free for museum
members.

CURRENT EXHIBITIONS:
The Natural History Gallery: Showcasing selections from the Museum's
permanent collection, the gallery contains multimedia exhibits on a
variety of cultural, scientific and artistic content. Currently on
display are: etchings from Suite 347 by Pablo Picasso, the Century of
Sex exhibit featuring media images from the past 100 years, Marilyn
Monroe’s famous red velvet nudes from the first issue of Playboy,
Chinese Jade figurative sculpture from 4000 BC, and a primer on the
history of the Kama Sutra with folk art from India and Nepal.

Sex and Technology: The exhibition touches on topics as diverse
as pharmaceuticals, surgical technology, the evolution of photography
and film, video games, digital imaging and the internet in this
penetrating look into technology's role in the evolution of fantasy and
reality. Among items on display are early films, phone sex recordings,
early 3D slides, surgical implants, patent drawings, photography and
surrogate objects of all kinds.

Sex and the Muse: Among pieces featured in the exhibition are the
photographic work of David LaChapelle and Carlos Batts, industrial
designs by Julian Murphy, pieces from the Tom of Finland Foundation and
other work by local and international artists.